The Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) has a major impact on the economy. Its monetary policies affect employment, inflation, interest rates, and economic growth. It has the power, by making a policy mistake, can tip the economy into recession. (The Fed also has important regulatory responsibil[...]
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
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You can order, but you can’t buy. You’d better get used to it, Vox says (here), because shortages aren’t going away. Why? Because the pandemic has throttled the world’s far-flung supply chains. And while the U.S. economy may be reviving, albeit in fits and starts, the rest of[...]
Tucker Carlson falsely blames refugees for housing shortage
Ranting about America’s housing crisis, which is real enough, Fox host Tucker Carlson told his gullible audience, “So, why is it happening? Well, lots of reasons, but one reason it’s happening is America is becoming a lot more crowded than it ever was, and one of the reasons for th[...]
Help wanted
Given a tight labor market, I’d guess these jobs will go unfilled. Read story here. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Climate change? What climate change? Oh, that climate change.
NOAA “announced Friday that July was the hottest month since record-keeping began 142 years ago,” NBC News reported on Sunday, August 15, 2021 (read story here). NOAA, if you don’t know, is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency under the Department o[...]
Conservatives: Use hunger to make wage earners “obedient dogs”
If you work for a living, these people are not your friends. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Where rent is $420 a month
A 65-year-old American woman living on Social Security and whatever she makes from freelance writing pays $420 a month for a 2-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot apartment with 10-foot ceiling only half a block from a beach. She can “also walk to a plethora of cafés, shops and restaurants.” Her[...]
The $15 minimum wage is here
It wasn’t enacted by Congress, but by the free market. Employers have over 9 million unfilled job openings. With inflation over 5%, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour (many states have enacted higher) doesn’t cut it. No one can live on that, and no one has to. Employers like Amazo[...]
July 9th, 2021 - 10:19 am § in America, Biden, Business, Economics, Foreign Affairs, Misc., Politics
Who’s to blame for gas prices?
Republicans want to blame Biden (see story here), but that’s ridiculous. Gas prices are tied to supply and demand. Bottom line, supply is down from years of disinvestment in oil production, and demand is jumping as America comes out of pandemic hibernation and millions of us resume commuting t[...]
Is $5 gas coming?
Gas pumps in my Seattle neighborhood already sport $3.999 prices, partly because Washington has the country’s 4th highest gas taxes (67.8 cents combined federal and state; see state-by-state rankings here). Oil prices obviously affect pump prices, but don’t dictate them. Crude oil is a g[...]